Sources in the India Office Records for this period tend to be sparse, scattered and somewhat unreliable up to the period of the Elphinstone mission and usually consist of second or third-hand accounts received from agents via the Residents. At the beginning of this period even the mode of referring to the Afghans varies: 'Ophgoons', 'Patans', 'Doorannees and Abdalees'. In a report of the Battle of Panipat Ahmad Shah is simply referred to as the 'King of Kings'; his successors, however, normally appear under their own names.

Publications

Forster, George. A journey from Bengal to England through the northern part of India, Kashmire, Afghanistan and Persia, and into Russia by the Caspian Sea, 2 vols. London, 1808

Elphinstone, Mountstuart. An account of the Kingdom of Caubul and its dependencies in Persia, Tartary and India.London, 1815

L/PS/3 Home Correspondence, 1807-1911L/PS/4-6 Correspondence with India, 1756-1874L/PS/9 Correspondence relating to areas outside India, 1781-1911. There are occasional references in letters from Persia and Baghdad

[IOR:P] Proceedings

Probably the major source at this period. Some volumes contain indexes, which are not always helpful: see under 'Country (or Native) Powers', and under 'Residents' (e.g. especially 'with Scindia'). The Cabul mission (1809) has separate index entries.

Mss Eur D1070

CROKATT (John)`Thoughts on the external defence of India from the projected Invasion of the French and Russians': paper, dated 28 Jan 1808, by John Crokatt, clerk on staff of Board of Control c1803-37.1 volume, 1808 - 1808

Mss Eur E401

MISCELLANEOUSPrinted broadside published by the Army Press, Lahore (c1940), describing the gun `Zamzamah' manufactured in 1757 at Lahore for Ahmad Shah, Amir of Afghanistan, and used by him at the battle of Panipat 1761.1 folio, nd

Mss Eur F89

ELPHINSTONE (William Fullerton)Elphinstone Collection (3): papers of William Fullerton Elphinstone (1740-1834), East India Company Director 1786-1825, Chairman 1804, 1806 and 1814; and of other members of his family including his son Maj-Gen William George Keith Elphinstone (1782-1842), British Army 1804-42; also Elphinstone estate papers.189 items, 1788 - 1841

Mss Eur F204

LE-POER TRENCH (Richard), 2nd Earl of ClancartyMiscellaneous papers of Richard le-Poer Trench, 2nd Earl of Clancarty (1767-1847), Member of the Board of Control 1804-06, relating to the administration of India c1793-1811, including material on Oudh, military affairs, finance and trade.331 folios, 1793 - 1811

Mss Eur F228

KIRKPATRICK (William), Maj-GenKirkpatrick Collection: papers and correspondence of Maj-Gen William Kirkpatrick (1754-1812), Bengal Army 1773, and Lt-Col James Achilles Kirkpatrick (1764-1805), Madras Army 1780, chiefly as successive Residents at Hyderabad 1793-97 and 1797-1805, but also including papers relating to Mysore, the Marathas, and Nepal; also some papers of Maj-Gen Sir John Malcolm including material on Afghanistan, c1800.96 items, 1782 - 1811

Mss Eur K115

FORSTER (George)`Mr Forster's Rout[e] from Jumboo, in the Northern Mountains of Hindustan, to Astracan, in Russia': fair copy of a journal closely related to the published work `A Journey from Bengal to England, through the Northern part of India, Kashmir, Afghanistan, and Persia, and into Russia by the Caspian Sea'(London 1798), by George Forster (d 1792), East India Company servant, Madras 1770-92. See printed catalogue for full description; requisition as Mss Eur> B 14.1 volume, 1783 - 1784

Mss Eur K139

MUGHAL BEGTranslation from the Persian, made c1850, of reports made by Mughal Beg to his employer Lt (later Lt-Col) Francis Wilford (c1761-1822) in 1790 on a series of journeys made in the preceding years in the Punjab, north west India, Afghanistan and Central Asia. (Cf Wilford's references to Mughal Beg in `Asiatic Researches', vol xiv). See printed catalogue for full description; requisition as Mss Eur F 22.1 volume, 1780 - 1790

Mss Eur K247-50

ELPHINSTONE (Mountstuart)Memoirs on Afghanistan, Iran, and neighbouring countries by Mountstuart Elphinstone (qv), and Lt (later Capt) Francis Irvine (1786-1855), Bengal Army 1805-22, mostly incorporated into Elphinstone's `Account of the Kingdom of Caubul' (London 1815); also list of nine memoirs by various hands on Afghanistan, Persia, etc, relating to Elphinstone's Embassy to Kabul 1808 and Sir John Malcolm's mission to Persia 1810. Before ordering see printed catalogue for full description and shelfmarks.4 volumes, 1808 - 1810

Mss Eur K290-304; J 814-19

ERSKINE (William)Erskine Collection: papers collected by William (1773-1852), legal office holder, Bombay from 1804, Master in Equity, Recorder's Court 1820-23; Secretary and later Vice-President of the Bombay Literary Society 1805-23; oriental scholar; chiefly relating to the history, geography, customs and antiquities of the peoples of India and Central Asia. Before ordering see printed catalogue for full description and shelfmarks. Before ordering see printed catalogue for full description and shelfmarks.21 volumes, 1804 - 1841

Mss Eur Orme

ORME (Robert)Orme Collection: papers of Robert Orme (1728-1801), East India Company servant, Bengal and Madras 1743-58, historiographer to the Company 1769-1801, chiefly collected for his `History of the Military Transactions of the British Nation in Indostan from the year 1745' (London 1763, 1778).356 volumes, 1745 - 1780